3-008-673 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The International Exhibition - chimneypiece in the Nave, by L. Marchand, of Paris, 1862. Engraving from a photograph by the London Stereoscopic Company. 'The work is of black marble, enriched by engraving and colours; but the colour is sunk so that the surface does not protrude beyond the general face of the marble, and thus its preservation is secured. Bronze ornaments and figures are also applied with the happiest results, the soft grey-green of the bronze contrasting most pleasingly with the general tone of the work. In the centre...stands Minerva...above is the attendant owl. The figure is in bronze gilt, but the helmet, shield, spearhead, and scale armour are in steel, and the owl is in bronze. Beneath are two male figures - votaries of Minerva; these, together with the grotesque heads, the sphinxes above and the central and other ornaments being also in bronze. This work is in the Romo-Greco style, and is full of beauties; it should have the special attention of every lover of the beautiful; and when we say that its value is represented commercially by £3000 we only convey an idea of the labour and skill ...It is a worthy ornament of the nave of that building in which a world assembles'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.